Page 5 of Dali: The Demolisher

Regardless of if Dali liked Kas or not, he’d never let her be with Everett. It was that determination that had him standing with a huff. Everett may have thought he was about to be embarrassed, but there was something that told him Kas wouldn’t be too hard on him if she knew what was going on.

As Dali charged out of Kennessy’s room, his friends followed behind, hyping him up and laughing along the way. He knocked on her door and balled his fists at his sides. While he didn’t know if she’d ever kissed someone before, he hadn’t. For some reason, kissing Kassadee felt fitting.

When she opened the door and saw all four boys, her brows wrinkled and mouth twisted to the side.

“Hmm… What do you guys want?” the ten-year-old asked, gaze landing on her brother skeptically.

“Dali has to kiss you. Everett dared him,” Ken said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I told him you’d beat him up. You don’t have to let him do it.”

Kassadee’s eyes rolled as she looked Dali from his head to his toes. Using a tight grip on his shirt, she tugged him into her room and slammed the door, ignoring the others complaining that they had to see it to believe it.

“Um… You don’t have to let me kiss you,” Dali assured her quietly, avoiding her eyes and squeezing the back of his neck.

“I’m going to kick Everett in the balls for putting me in your game.” Dali chuckled and she smiled. “Do you… want to kiss me?” His mouth opened and closed. “’Cause I’ve never… I’m only ten.”

When she covered her mouth and snickered, it made Dali’s heart skip a beat. “I haven’t either,” he admitted, just above a whisper. Nibbling his bottom lip, he looked at the door, as if he could see his friends through it. “It’s okay, Kas. We don’t have to—”

She closed the space between them, silencing him. “If we’re going to do this, I want it to be a secret for the first time.”

“Whoa.” His head nodded before he released a nervous roar of laughter. “For sure.” He cleared his throat and licked his lips. “I-It can be a secret. J-Just between us.”

Kassadee giggled but it turned into a sharp intake of breath when he closed the space between them. He wrapped his pinky around hers and pushed her puffy hair out of her face. Their eyes remained locked as he swallowed hard and lowered his face to hers. After pecking her lips twice, their eyes simultaneously closed. He pulled away quickly when his body heated, and he felt something growing that should have remained flaccid.

His hand shook as he opened the door. Kassadee’s trembling hand slid down her mouth as she stared at him.

“Are you two gonna do it or what?” Everett griped.

“We’re getting to it!” Dali roared, landing a punch to the middle of Everett’s chest that caused him to groan and double over in pain.

“Are you sure, Kas?” Ken asked.

She nodded and licked her lips.

Dali palmed her small waist and pulled her forward. He covered her lips with his and let them linger for three Mississippis. At the sound of whooping and hollering, he pulled away, smiling in pride at what he’d accomplished.

“You owe me!” Everett said as they walked away. “I really thought she was going to pound your ass.”

They all laughed until Kennessy said, “If either of you ever kiss or touch my sister again, I’m going to cut your lips off and feed them to Old Man Thomas’s pet snake.”

Before going back into Ken’s room, Dali looked back in the direction of Kassadee’s. She was still standing there, frozen, until he shot her a wink that caused her to jump and slam her door.

3

Kassadee

When I turned quicklyand leaned against the counter, Siri eyed me skeptically. I should have been ashamed of how hard I worked to keep Dali from noticing me notice him, but I wasn’t. It was hard to not stare at the man when we were in the same room. Not just because of how handsome he was but because of how I felt about him. Dali was the man I believed I would always have feelings for. Even after I got married, he’d be the one that made me wonder what if.

“Are you okay?” Siri asked, stepping in front of me.

“Mhm. I just thought Dali was gone since I didn’t see the moving truck outside.”

Her eyes rolled playfully before she squeezed my arm. “I don’t know why you try to avoid him. It’s not like he’s going anywhere any time soon.”

“I know that. Doesn’t make it any easier to be around him though.”

“That’s what I don’t understand. Before I left, you two were inseparable. What happened?”

With a sigh, I leaned against the island. Siri’s confusion was warranted. She spent a few years working in Arizona after college. When she came back to Jasper Lane, my friendship with Dali had done a one-eighty. Over the past three years, it felt like Dali and I were drifting further and further apart. At one point, he was my protector, confidant, and travel buddy. Now, we barely had a conversation when we crossed paths.

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